Difficult Choices
by Aviana8
Summary: Difficult choices are a part of life. This is a Victorious fanfiction about Cat's struggle with choosing between boys. She has two guys waiting on her command, but she can only choose one. Beck has recently broken up with Jade, and he's now got his eye on the petite redhead, but so does the new alternate captain of the Hollywood Arts hockey team, Tyler Johanssen.
1. Chapter 1

Tyler Johanssen pushed open the door that led outside and glanced out nervously at the huge crowd gathering in the courtyard outside his new school. There was a buzz in the air, and he didn't like it.

Tyler was used to being in front of big crowds, but this was different. This was out of his domain. He wasn't sure what to make of it yet.

He glanced up at the stage that was suspended above the crowd and saw a girl standing onstage, a microphone clutched in her hand. She had long brown hair and eyes of the same color. It took a second for her face to click with a name. This girl was Tori Vega, the most popular student at Hollywood Arts. She was a singer, an actress, and just about everything you needed to make it at this school. A boy Tyler immediately recognized as her friend Andre stepped up next to her, and Tori raised the microphone to her mouth.

"Hey everyone!" she said, cringing slightly at the way the microphone butchered her voice. "Andre and I wrote a song for the upcoming state music competition, and we wanted to get some feedback on it, so sit back and enjoy!"

Tyler sat down on a bench, eager to hear what they'd prepared. The guitars started and the song held a sweet melody. He glanced down and tried to block out the thoughts of his old home. He'd left Canada less than forty eight hours earlier, leaving behind his friends and teammates, and now he was living with a completely new billet family, as well as having to attend a new school and join a new team.

The beat picked up, the song turning into something fun and easy to dance to. People began to clap to the beat and dance in the crowd. Tyler glanced up and caught the eye of a small redhead. He looked away quickly, but couldn't stop himself from turning back after a few seconds. She smiled and looked back at the stage. Tyler drowned out the music by focusing on her, trying to learn her every detail. She was short, maybe 5 feet. Her red hair appeared to be long and silky smooth, hanging midway down her back. Her brown eyes held a lively twinkle that strongly drew his attention, and her small smile was undeniably adorable. He made a mental note to talk to her later, if it was at all possible.

Lunch was only a few hours later. Several people broke through the doors to the courtyard outside just a few moments after the bell to lunch had rung, filling the seats at the tables positioned at random intervals throughout the area.

At her usual table, Cat fiddled with her fork, actively avoiding her food. She poked a limp piece of lettuce and it flopped over unattractively on her plate. She stared at it with a frown.

"Cat, eat it... It's good for you." Tori said, having watched Cat pick at her food for the past few minutes.

Cat put the piece of lettuce in her mouth and chewed slowly without enthusiasm. When Tori looked back down to her casserole, Cat immediately spit the lettuce into a napkin, wadding it up in a ball in her hand so Tori wouldn't see. Beck noticed and laughed from across the table, and she glanced up, briefly admiring his smile for the few moments it shone. Looking at him, she knew something was off. Dark circles were under his eyes. His eyes were very faintly red-rimmed. She didn't bother to question him, since she knew he would talk about it on his own time.

"Come on, it's almost time for class. We have to go get you fixed up." Tori said to Beck after noticing how he looked like he hadn't slept a wink. She turned back to Cat for a brief moment. "See you later, Cat."

Cat watched as her two friends stood from the table and walked away, leaving her alone. She sat there for what seemed like forever before she heard a voice come from behind her.

"Hey."

She turned around, slightly startled.

A boy was standing there. He looked awfully tall, maybe about six feet. He was muscular, the T-shirt he wore clearly defining and emphasizing the curves of his biceps and triceps. He had light blonde hair spiked up above his head, and his eyes were an oceanic blue, distinctly reminding her of the blue waves that would crash onto the shore at Venice Beach.

He smiled apologetically when he realized he had startled her. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Just saw you sitting here all alone, and I thought I'd come and say hi, keep you company."

She felt butterflies in her stomach, making her feel lightheaded for just a moment.

"I'm new here, and I don't know many people," he continued.

"I can show you around," she offered, and he looked up with a surprised smile. "I'll introduce you to my friends, and you can hang out with us."

He seemed so familiar, but she didn't know why. She thought for a few moments, until she realized he had to be the boy she had spotted during Tori and Andre's performance a few hours earlier.

"I'm Tyler," he said, extending his hand for a handshake. She extended her hand in return, their hands slotting together for a few moments.

"I'm Cat," she responded, leaving her hand entangled with his for much longer than was necessary, hoping it wouldn't become uncomfortable to Tyler.

"So, what do you do outside of school?" Tyler asked her, secretly not wanting to let go of Cat's hand, but there was absolutely no way he was admitting that.

"Just hang out, go to the beach, stuff like that." Cat mentally rolled her eyes. Hang out? Go to the beach? Was she serious? She sounded like an idiot. Couldn't she have thought of anything better to say? Maybe his presence was just tripping her up. "You?"

"Hockey takes up most of my life," he said with a soft laugh, and she caught a glimpse of his impressive smile, slightly lopsided and exposing a few impressively white teeth. "But I'm looking forward to trying some new things here."

She nodded her understanding. Hockey had to be the reason why his biceps and triceps were so impressive.

"What team do you play for?" she asked, hoping her lack of knowledge of the sport didn't come back to bite her.

"I'm playing for the Hollywood Arts team, actually." He smiled.

Cat had never known they had a team before that moment, but, hey, they had had a ping-pong team, so it was pretty obvious that they should have a hockey team.

"When do you play next?" she asked.

"We've got a game here in LA on Friday night. I can get you tickets if you want," he offered. She smiled happily, delighted to hear that. While she didn't know much about the sport, watching a cute guy work his impressive muscles for a few hours had to be a good time.

"I'd like that," she replied, as the bell rang loudly, signaling the end of lunch and, unfortunately, the end of their conversation.

"Meet me at my locker after school," he said. "I'll make sure you can get some tickets."

"Thanks," she said. She didn't realize she was about to be late to her next class until she looked up to see the courtyard empty, save for her and Tyler. "Well, I better get to class now. See you after school," she said, lifting her hand in a brief wave to him before she headed to class.


	2. Chapter 2

"And acting is all about making people believe!" Sikowitz said, droning on and on about an acting topic that Cat honestly couldn't care less about right now.

She stared blankly at the wall. Cat had never felt like this before; this insane mix of something entirely unfamiliar. Whatever it was, it had coped well with the hard task of hiding her emotions.

Tori turned in her chair and shot her a weird look from the row ahead of her, noticing her unusual silence. It wasn't like her not to be bubbly and cheerful. Andre noticed her silence as well, reaching over and patting her knee lightly.

"You okay, Little Red?" he questioned in a hushed whisper.

She nodded, not bothering to turn her head to look at him or open her mouth to respond vocally. She could see his worried expression out the corner of her eye, and she knew she wasn't selling the fact that she was alright.

Sikowitz droned back into her brain, and began to explain how to "effectively" re enact a sad scene. Tori put her hands up in protest of his insane rant, and he waved her off.

Cat leaned back and stared at the back of Beck's head. His head was lowered and angled towards the ground, which meant he probably wasn't paying attention to Sikowitz's inane rambling either and staring at the ground instead. She wondered why Beck had been so shaken today. Maybe it was something with Jade? After all, she was known for blowing things out of proportion.

Cat was brought back to reality by having a coconut rested on her head, as her overly enthusiastic teacher demonstrated how to fake cry. It was awful showmanship, but Cat pretended not to notice, so as to not disturb the man.

In another classroom on the other side of the school, Tyler was sitting in front of his canvas, paying little attention to whatever his teacher was saying. He glanced at the clock, thinking about how he couldn't wait to get out of this class. Art had never been his calling, and he was stuck in a double block of some cross between painting and drawing. Who even knew what it was at this point?

"Forty minutes to go..." he muttered to himself, willing the hands on the clock to turn faster so he could finally get out.

"Tyler, what do we have here?" he heard behind him, feeling a firm hand on his shoulder. He paled slightly, realizing his teacher was right behind him.

"Uhm, I... I have no idea." he answered honestly as the man leaned in toward the canvas, hoping the teacher would recognize the mess on the canvas as something artistic instead of something he had no idea what he was doing with.

"Looks like a prime example of action painting!" the teacher declared, praising him, much to Tyler's surprise.

"I... um, guess so?" Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it's just luck."

A student across the room spilled a can of paint on the floor, the can clattering noisily, distracting the teacher from Tyler's work. Once the teacher was on the other side of the room, Tyler glanced up at the clock again. The hands on the clock still mocked him, seeming to turn even slower, backwards, even, to torture him. God, he felt like he would be stuck here forever.

A loud, unfamiliar bell rang, the level of the noise making him wince. This bell sounded much different from the normal bell that rang to end class. Tyler looked back up at the clock, squinting to determine that there was still time before the end of class.

"Fire!" someone shouted, the word rippling around the room. The class began to line up at the door like they were instructed to. Tyler got up and hurried to join the class at the end of the line, his mind racing. Was there actually a fire, or was this just an unexpected drill?

The class began to proceed calmly through the door, and he relaxed. No sign of anything in the halls, maybe it was just a drill. Then he saw it. The sprinklers were on, soaking the walls and flooding the school.

Sikowitz's rant was interrupted by a loud, sharp ringing emanating through the room. At first, he thought it was just a noise in his head, but he soon realized it was the ring of the fire alarm.

"Every man for himself!" Sikowitz shouted, jumping through the window head first and tumbling into the flower garden just outside the window.

Tori ran to catch the window before it shut, but she was too late and it slammed shut, refusing to budge further after Sikowitz opening it to make his escape. The room quickly descended into pandemonium. Utter chaos abounded as students threw aside chairs in feeble attempts to escape the room.

Beck managed to open the door and ran into the hallway, heading for the exit. Halfway there, with his classmates on his heels in hot pursuit, he stopped. Cat! She'd been sleeping in the chair behind him, and he doubted she would have woke up even with the noise. After all, unexpected noises were an everyday occurrence in Sikowitz's class.

Beck spun around and ran back toward the classroom, ignoring his friends' shouting after him. He burst into the room and found Cat just where he'd expected. He picked her up easily, her body light and limp in his arms, and carried her out of the room. He ran as fast as he could with another person in his arms and burst out the front door.

It was a sunny day out, the birds were singing, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He glanced back at the building; it looked normal, just like it did every day.

Cat stirred, opening her eyes, jumping slightly from fright when she realized she was no longer in her chair.

Beck shook his head in disbelief. He'd just ran back into a building he'd thought was burning to save her, and he was greeted with this romance killer?

"What happened?" Cat asked, in a daze.

"Fire drill," Beck mumbled, gently setting her down.

Yes, it was a romance killer that the day was fine and the building was unharmed, but he couldn't wait. He went for it anyway. Their lips met, and at first he felt Cat draw back in shock, but she soon moved in and embraced him as well. He was gentle, but passionate, and she felt at home with him. She felt the butterflies in her stomach finally settle a bit after having swarmed her for the entire day.

They separated after a few moments. Cat opened her eyes to look at Beck. He was smiling, which was a good sign. She opened her mouth to say something, but Beck touched her face gently, stopping her dead in her tracks. She stared into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity before they turned away. As she looked away, she saw the back of a muscular boy stalking away. She recognized the hair, her stomach flipping, the butterflies in her stomach picking up again and leaving her with an odd feeling. It was Tyler. What had she done, and just what had he seen? One look at his cold expression left her with no doubt in her mind; she had some explaining to do if she ever wanted his company again.


	3. Chapter 3

Tyler walked through the shiny metal doors decorated with the Hollywood Arts logo and felt an insane rush of joy as he did so. He was mere minutes away from getting back on the ice, and he couldn't wait. He felt the purple rubber floor under his skate blades and smiled to himself.

He was in a state of the art building made specifically for the Hollywood Arts team. The Pear Ice Palace, as it was called, was the newest big arena in Los Angeles, built entirely for Hollywood Arts by the Pear Store. It was massive, with huge underground complexes stretching for what seemed like miles. The complexes were for the teams and people affiliated with them, and not only did they have dressing rooms, equipment rooms, meeting rooms, lounges, and everything else a team could need, they came fully equipped with machines to dispense coffee, energy drinks, or anything else deemed helpful to an athlete.

The bass pounded from the state of the art speakers in the dressing room, and Tyler sat and thought about what his first lap of the ice would be like. It was a massive building, with enough space for 15,000 seats. Needless to say, there wouldn't be that many used, at least for now, but it was impressive all the same. The building had merchandise shops and cafes, box seats, and different prices for different levels of seating. It was a dream come true.

But it balanced itself out when he thought about the team's dismal reputation. The Pear Store had sponsored the team only because they didn't want to see the school's reputation be ruined. They were now the richest team in the league by a long shot, but they were fully expected to represent well.

Tyler thought back to the day he got the message. The General Manager of the Hollywood Arts team had traded for him because of his great hands and ability to score. He'd assured him that he'd be able to fit in at their school, but now Tyler had to play well or it would all disappear. He was worried, because the previous season the team had been worst in the league, only compiling ten wins of their seventy regular season games.

The thing about the Hollywood Arts hockey team was that they weren't like any other sports team in the school. They were an actual organization playing for a lot of money and working with a lot of fans. They had paid staff whose goal was to help the team win in any and every way possible. Whoever said hockey wouldn't make it in California was sadly mistaken.

Tyler was shaken back to reality by a horn that signalled the start of practice. He walked down the hallway behind his teammates, who were slowly filing out of the room. After navigating the maze of tunnels, he ended up at the ice and took a step onto it. It was dry, which made it better to skate on. He focused on his strides for a few moments before looking up, curiosity and the desire to get a better look at the impressive design of the building guiding him. He was astounded. Bright lights shone from all over the building, and the roof was so high that he could barely see it. There was a massive box that hung right above center ice, with television screens on each side to display the action in real time. The scoreboard was also located on the massive piece of machinery, and he stared up in awe. A Jumbotron. He'd never played under one of them before. He couldn't wait to get the season started.

This place wasn't so bad, he decided. The organization was great, school was fine, and he'd met Cat. His face darkened. He'd forgotten about Cat. She had seemed so sweet, but he must have misread her. Or had he? His mind began racing as he thought of all the things he could have done wrong. Should he have gone for it earlier? Should he have waited to introduce himself?

"Tyler, you alright, buddy?" called his coach, Sean.

"Yeah, fine." Tyler lied.

He glanced down at his brand new equipment and felt another rush of gratitude. His team had supplied him with what seemed to be an infinite supply of equipment and anything else that could be useful to a player such as himself. His stick was silver and red, custom-made for him by Infinity Sports. They'd let him choose his curve, length, and colors before they'd made him a stick. His last name, Johanssen, was printed all in capitals on the side of the stick along with his number, 8. He was dressed in a purple practice uniform, which had also been custom ordered.

All of this, and he still wasn't happy. He fired a puck at the boards and watched it send a shiver down the plexiglass. He'd thought Cat had liked him. He'd thought that he had a chance.

**********

Tyler stumbled to his locker in a stupor, failing to open it three times before finally getting the right combination and opening it. He dropped his bags into it and closed it. He turned around and jumped. Behind him was a small, familiar redhead in all her splendor. She looked up at him through sad eyes, and he found it was hard to stay upset with her. Besides, he hadn't said anything about liking her, so how was she supposed to know?

"Hi," she said softly, staring down blankly at her navy blue flats.

"What's up? I saw you having fun yesterday." Tyler replied casually, trying to hide his bitterness.

"Tyler, I swear I didn't mean to, he just kind of went for it!" she frantically tried to explain.

Was she actually trying to tell him that it wasn't her intention? That she still had her eye on somebody else? Maybe it was nothing, but a small spark of hope formed in him, and he flashed his first smile that day.

"It's alright," he told her, trying not to look at her glistening eyes for too long. "I get it. Stuff happens. But anyway, you probably want those tickets."

"Oh, sure!" she said, returning to her normal, cheery self. "I haven't asked Tori yet, but I'll talk to her at lunch. Speaking of lunch, are you sitting with us?"

"I suppose..." Tyler said, pulling out the tickets he'd obtained and handing them over. "I don't see why not."

"Yay! Meet me at my normal table!" Cat replied, bouncing away.

Tyler shook his head. The way her mood changed in the blink of an eye never failed to astound him. But then again, there must have been something to those mood swings, because he kept going back. He kept waiting for the next one. Because he cared. Deep down inside, he knew he was already falling for Cat, but he couldn't tell just how much of a wild ride was in store...


	4. Chapter 4

"Where's Beck?" Tori asked, her face a clearly painted picture of concern.

The gang were all seated at their normal table, save Beck and Jade. Nobody had seen either of them since first period, and everyone was getting slightly worried. It was normal for the two of them to disappear for a little bit, probably to make out in the janitor's closet, but it wasn't normal for them to be gone so long.

"Did I interrupt anything?" Cat heard, feeling a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around to find Tyler standing behind her, a grin on his face.

"Guys, this is Tyler," Cat declared, introducing her new friend to the rest of the group. "He's new to Hollywood Arts, and he's a hockey player!" she beamed, hurriedly making room for him to sit next to her.

"What did I miss?" Tyler asked. Cat gave him a small shrug in response.

"We just got here. We don't know where Beck or Jade are, but they'll turn up eventually," she reassured him.

Tyler nodded and took a bite of his salad. Cat frowned as she watched him stomach the shriveled greens (how, she wondered), and waited for the perfect opportunity. There! Tori wasn't looking! She casually picked up her plate and dumped her salad on top of Tyler's. It was an innocent move, but Tyler saw everything.

"Come on Cat, it's healthy. I'll share it with you if you want, but you've gotta eat some of it." he said, trying to persuade her.

Tori, having noticed the conversation between Cat and Tyler, shot an unimpressed look in Cat's direction and went back to her food.

Andre suddenly jumped up from the table, exclaiming "I gotta go! You remember that show I'm supposed to perform in next week? I forgot, lunchtime rehearsals!"

He dashed off, leaving Tori, Cat, Robbie, and Tyler at the table.

"Well, just about time for class. Let's go, Robbie!" Tori said, trying to distance her and Robbie from Cat and Tyler.

"But we still have like an hour-" Robbie began to protest, but he was dragged away mid sentence, leaving Cat and Tyler alone.

"So, you excited for tonight?" Tyler asked her cautiously. "I got you front row seats."

"Oh, yeah..." Cat said in a daze.

Her face was clouded over as if something was wrong, but upon questioning she adamantly denied it. Tyler decided to leave it until a more comfortable moment arose.

"So... what was yesterday about?" he asked slowly.

"I don't know! I really don't! He just... went for it!" Cat blurted. "But I couldn't be with him even if I wanted to, because Jade would kill me!"

"Oh..." Tyler replied, shocked at her sudden outburst. "I, um, was actually talking about the fire alarm..."

Cat's face turned red, almost matching the shade of her hair. Embarrassed, she buried her head in her hands.

"But if you don't like him, then who do you like?" Tyler asked, leading up to a difficult question.

Cat looked up, opening her eyes. She didn't answer. In fact, she couldn't seem to answer. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, Tyler leaned in closer. He knew that this was it. Cat obliged and leaned in as well, their lips mere inches apart. Their lips met, and Cat felt a jolt of electricity running through her veins, running from her lips to her toes, searing a mark in her blood. She drowned out the world, feeling herself get slightly dizzy. She couldn't break free of his grasp, but that was fine with her. She felt his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her in, closer, closer, until there was no way they could be any closer.

They finally broke apart, and Cat smiled shyly up at him. He ran a finger down her cheek, and she felt the blood rushing to her face again. Neither one of them said anything for a few moments, and then Cat broke the silence.

"I didn't want to kiss Beck, you know."

"I know that," Tyler replied. "We all do things we don't particularly want to. But what actually matters is that you're doing what you want to now."

"Oh, I am," she smiled, glancing down at her shoes with a small giggle.

"Glad to hear it." Tyler replied.

It was the awkward post-intimacy conversation that got to them both, and after only a few minutes, they separated to prepare for class. Tyler managed to convince himself that it would be easier to get close to Cat after that day, but somewhere in the back of his head, he knew she hadn't completely fallen for him yet. But that, he understood. It would take time and effort to make her completely fall for him.

**********

"Let's go, men!" called Darnel, the captain of the Hollywood Arts hockey team.

"Here we go now, let's get to it!" Tyler called down the hallway, where the team was lining up.

Anyone would have to admit, they looked good. It was a very different team from the year before, with the addition of seven new forty goal scorers. They had new equipment, new uniforms, new coaches, new staff, a new arena... They were a new team.

Tyler glanced down to his dark purple skate laces, tied neatly in a double knot. His purple and white striped hockey socks were tucked into his skates, a bold silver color, shining brightly. He was using the same stick as he had in practice, with white tape on the handle and black tape on the blade. The white wax he'd applied glinted on the black tape, catching the light, and he could almost feel the puck on his stick already.

"Three minutes, let's go!" called one of the equipment managers. They could hear the roar of the crowd from deep underground, and the sounds of a highlight video playing on the jumbotron.

"Gentlemen, I do believe we've made a name for ourselves," Sean stated, walking down the hall in between his players. "Eight thousand people are out there waiting to see us play. That's more than we've ever gotten with any school event before. So we're not going to screw this up, are we now?"

Tyler glanced down at his black hockey pants, equipped with purple laces, and he held his gloves out to examine them. They were black, but it wasn't a noticeable difference from the rest of the uniform. The helmets were black too, with the number on the back and a purple Hollywood Arts logo on each side.

And the jerseys. The jerseys were something special. They were wearing the alternate uniforms, because it was the season opener. They were deep purple with a special never before seen Hollywood Arts logo on the front. It was an H and an A linked together, with a Condor perched on top. Although nobody called them the Condors, despite that being their actual name, Tyler thought that the bird made a nice addition to the logo.

The players began to file through the hallway, heading closer to the ice, and Tyler's nerves began to distract him from his true focus. What if he messed up? What if Sean wasn't impressed? What if Cat wasn't impressed? He didn't know what he would do.

"Come on! It's probably already started!" Cat urged, unimpressed with Beck's slow speed. She really didn't want to miss a thing, and if Beck kept his pace up, they would miss at least the first few minutes.

Beck stumbled his way after her in the dark, trying to find their seats. All the lights in the arena were off, making the seating area visible only by the bright glow of the jumbotron. There was a player introduction video being broadcast on the jumbotron, currently discussing the experience of each respective player. Beck and Cat found their seats and sat down just in time to see the visitors gates open and the Las Vegas Aces take to the ice. They were representing Las Vegas Academy, but they were just called the Las Vegas Aces because there wasn't another team from Nevada in the league.

Another highlight video began to play, and Cat admired the players smooth skating. She was so wrapped up in the video she didn't notice Tyler's appearance on the screen, or when Beck put his arm around her.

Suspenseful music began to play, and a holographic projection began to play on the ice. It displayed highlights from the team's last season, so it turned out to be a relatively short broadcast. The projection ended and a spotlight focused on center ice. Cat looked around at the immense light show going on around her, and was stunned by the amount of money it must have cost to set up.

**TODAY'S ATTENDANCE: 7021** flashed onto the screen, and Cat looked around for the first time to appreciate the vast ocean of people waiting to see the game. This was her team, from her school. She was on a first name basis with half the players, and here they were playing in front of the equivalent of a small town. She had to give it to them, the Pear Store had done more than their job in the marketing department.

**********

Tori Vega sat at home, alone. She was bored, but she'd chosen to be this way. Cat had invited her to watch a hockey game with her, but she'd blown her off to get her nails done. Not that she actually had an appointment to get her nails done. She'd just known that the next person Cat would invite was Beck, and she found it sweet how they enjoyed each others' company.

She groaned and rolled over on the couch, boredom eating away at her. She switched the TV channel back and forth between That's a Drag and Celebrities Underwater. She saw an advertisement for a new show titled Extreme Groin Injuries and didn't bother to stick around, deciding that wasn't something she wanted to see.

Turning off the TV, she went into the kitchen. On the table was a note. It was from Trina.

'Out for a run, be back soon. Make me dinner. -T'

Tori shook her head in mild disbelief and headed upstairs to her room. She knew that she'd done a good thing for Cat, so it was worth being a little bored for the night. She just hoped things were going well, and hopefully some chemistry was forming. After all, Cat hadn't dated anyone in a long, long time, and Beck definitely needed to get over his breakup with Jade.

The phone rang. When Tori picked up, she found it was her dad, asking to speak to her mother.

"Mom's not home yet, what is it?" she asked, fiddling with a random doll she'd found in her room.

She was far too old for dolls and things of that nature, but she'd just found this particular doll and decided to keep it, if only for the memories.  
"Tell her I'm stuck out of town and I might be another few days getting back," her father said, hoping Tori would pass the message along.

Tori agreed and hung up the phone, debating the possible cause of the holdup in her mind. Weather, more work, an emergency of some sort?  
She turned off her light and crawled into bed. It was going to be a long night.

**********

"You're up, bud," Darnel called to Tyler, waking him from the slight daze he'd gone into from watching everyone else.

Tyler shifted to the gate where the entrance to the ice loomed. He couldn't see more than three feet in front of him due to the fog machine making everything impossible to see. He heard an introduction begin, and he took off his helmet, spiking up his hand and keeping the helmet in his hand.

"From Toronto, Ontario, Canada, wearing the number eight, Hollywood Arts Alternate Captain, Tyler Johanssen!" The elongated introduction finished, and Tyler charged onto the ice.

He heard a loud bang and looked to his left. Flames shot out of the gate he'd been in only a second earlier, and although it was a great effect, if he'd stayed only a second longer he couldn't help thinking he would have been fried.

He emerged from the cloud of fog, and was taken aback by the noise of the crowd and the music, and the multicolored lights flashing from all over the arena.  
He skated to center ice and joined the circle of his teammates, waiting for the full team to be introduced. He set his helmet down on the ice in front of him, and admired the shiny silver "A" over his heart, signifying his position of alternate captain.

The rest of the introductions passed in a blur, the national anthems were played, and the teams lined up for the opening faceoff. One thing was for sure; this would be a wild ride.

**********

"Good game, Tyler!" Marcus, his left winger, praised him after the game.

Tyler was all dressed in the customary fashion as he headed out of the dressing room and down the hall toward the exit. He straightened his suit jacket and fixed the position of his tie. The game had gone well, with Tyler claiming his first point as a Condor in the form of an assist.

He walked out through the parking garage and toward the open doors that led into the night. He could hear the faint hum of the Aces' bus, parking somewhere many levels below the one that he was on. He heard a moan, and with his curiosity getting the better of him, he looked over to his left. There, unmistakably, was Beck. He was pressing a small figure against the wall, and they were entangled in a passionate kiss. Tyler squinted just enough to catch a glimpse of bright red hair, the color similar to that of a red velvet cupcake. That was all he needed to see. He would have recognized that hair anywhere; that small figure Beck had pinned against the wall was Cat.


End file.
